Snatched
by angelale8
Summary: After deserting Harry and Hermione, Ron is captured by a group of Snatchers. Here he finds that Pansy Parkinson is among them but with a different objective than just hunting down Muggle-borns. Ron and Pansy work together to escape and return to help with the horcrux hunt and along the way they discover feelings neither thought could ever be possible.
1. Caught by Snatchers

This is the first story I write after many years of just reading and reviewing on this site. I am excited to finally be taking the journey of a ff writer.

This story is part of a trilogy of sorts. I plan to make two more stories with two other of my favorite HP couples(Harry/Hermione and Draco/Ginny) about what happens during the horcrux hunt for each group and then merge them together on another story.

For this part we will explore what happens to Ron after he leaves the trio and is caught by Snatchers, among them Pansy Parkinson. I am not really sure how I came to like this couple but I have read a few wonderful stories with this pairing and fell in love. Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

As soon as Ron Disapparated from the campsite, he regretted deserting his friends. He just felt so angry that after all of this time of searching, they were about as close to finding another horcrux as Snape was to washing his hair. And to add to the task, they now had to search for the bloody sword of Gryffindor. All of this just became too much for him especially because he had been wearing the locket while these thoughts were going through his mind.

Now that he was able to see things more clearly, he knew that he shouldn't have left. He promised that he would help Harry with the horcrux hunt and that's what he would do. He was about to Apparate back to his friends when he heard some noise coming from the forest. About four or five men approached and surrounded him. A huge guy, who by the way he smelled, must be part troll, grabbed Ron.

"Well, well, what do we have here? What's a mudblood doing wandering about these parts of the forest? It's dangerous to be out in the open for your lot," said a massive guy who seemed to be the leader of this group.

It was dark out and Ron could hardly make out his captors. With the aid of the moonlight, he was able to see that he was surrounded by four really big guys and was being held by the guy who smelled like a troll. Not too far off he could see more men approaching from what looked like their camp.

"I'm not a mudblood," said Ron defiantly, "I am a pureblood."

"Right, if you were a pureblood you would not be out in these parts of the woods. You must be another one of those mudbloods that has run away to avoid having to register with the Ministry. We will surely get a good reward for bringing you in," said massive guy.

Ron couldn't tell him who he really was to prove his blood status so he told him the first name he could think of, "I _am_ a pureblood. My name is Stan Shunpike."

This caused quite the commotion amongst the men as they tried to figure out if he really was Stan. Soon, an argument started and two men started a fight. Others soon joined the chaos and Ron managed to hit his captor and take his wand away. He was about to disarm the guy holding his wand when he was kicked in the shin and was knocked down. The massive guy called the group to order and the troll-smelling guy grabbed him again and this time bound his hands.

"We should teach this mudblood a lesson before taking him in to collect our reward," said another guy.

"Don't hurt him. I know who this is. He's Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter's best friend. If we keep him here with us he may be able to lead us straight to Potter," shouted a female voice. The girl approached the group and as she came into the limited light he could see the voice belonged to none other than Pansy Parkinson.

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Let me know what you think :)

-Ale


	2. Pansy's Story

I think last chapter I forgot to mention that I do not own anything, etc.

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It didn't take long for Pansy to convince the group to let Ron stay to help them in their hunt for Harry Potter.

Many groups of Snatchers had formed following the Ministry's announcement of muggle-born registrations. Registering with the ministry brought upon many troubles so many muggle-born witches and wizards fled to the forests and surrounding areas of the country. Refusing to register was illegal and, if caught, they were punished by imprisonment in Azkaban. The Ministry was offering good rewards to anyone who brought in unregistered muggle-borns. People in need of money quickly banded together to hunt the muggle-borns and collect the reward galleons. These groups became known as Snatchers because they would "snatch" unsuspecting people that were found wandering about, especially alone, regardless of their true blood status.

The group of Snatchers that Pansy belonged to specialized in looking for muggle-born students that had not returned to Hogwarts and had fled in fear. Pansy was readily received into the group because as a recent student, she would know exactly who to look for. She was probably the brightest person in the bunch and so she had gained everyone's respect and they tended to follow any of her orders very easily.

The reward offered for muggle-born students was a good incentive but the group realized that turning Harry Potter in to the Ministry would pay off better. The group was in need of cashing more gold as they had now gone two months without catching any runaways.

The leader, or Thorn as he was called, took Ron to Pansy's tent where he would be staying under her watch. Thorn gave her Ron's wand to keep as she would be the only one in charge of extracting any information from him.

Later that night after they had some dinner, Ron and Pansy were sitting in her tent. Ron was very curious as to why Pansy was hanging around with a group of Snatchers. He thought she would be at Hogwarts. He was also curious about her lack of questioning. She was appointed the task of finding out the whereabouts of his friends but she had yet to ask him anything.

"So, when does the interrogation start, Parkinson?" asked Ron. "Aren't you supposed to be asking me where you can find my friends?"

"Yes Weasley, I am supposed to be asking you that but we can save that for some other time," Pansy replied.

"If you think I am going to tell you where they are just like that you are wrong. Besides, by now they probably left to go find another hiding place and I don't know where they will go."

"Weasley, I really don't want to talk about that right now."

"Well if you're not here to question me, why are you here?" Ron wondered. "I guess the better question is what are you doing here with this lot? Aren't you supposed to be back at Hogwarts with the rest of your Slytherin friends? Won't daddy be worried about you?"

Ron's questions really hit Pansy hard. She did not want to remember what happened to her family at the beginning of the summer when her world fell apart and she ended up running off and joining a group of Snatchers.

"My _daddy_ is exactly the reason why I'm here and not at Hogwarts!" Pansy exclaimed and ran out of the tent.

Ron was left in the tent on his own wondering the meaning of Pansy's little outburst. She was definitely different from the shallow and annoying girl she was at school. She came in later and went straight to bed. The last thing he heard before falling asleep was her crying.

The following morning, Thorn decided to find another place to camp. The tents were quickly packed and everyone got ready for the hike through the forest. After a quick stop for lunch, the group kept moving and Ron and Pansy fell behind. He felt really bad for making her cry the night before. He didn't know that her father was a sore subject for her so he decided to apologize.

"Look Parkinson, I'm sorry about what I said last night. I don't know what's happened to you and I shouldn't have mocked you about it."

"You're right Weasley. You really don't have any idea what I have been through. You think you are the only one who has been out here? I have been on the run since the beginning of July. I know what all of this is like."

"Well, why don't you tell me why you are here? Maybe then I can stop assuming the worst of you."

"I can't tell you my real motives until I know that I can trust you."

"Why would I need to be the one prove himself?" Ron asked confused. "Your family supports You-Know-Who. You joined a group of Snatchers that hunt down kids to trade for gold."

"I need to know that you won't betray my secret to Thorn or the others."

"I would have to be crazy to let those guys know anything that could put me or my friends in danger."

"Look the truth is, I am no longer on the Dark Lord's side. Not after what happened to my family. After Dumbledore's death last June, the Dark Lord demanded that my father give him control my family's fortune. My father had always preferred to stay in the background, mainly supplying the cause with money. This past year my father had spent a lot and our fortune disappeared. He was not able to keep giving the Dark Lord money and so he was asked to take a more active role with the Death Eaters. My father refused, and my mother paid the price," she said as tears formed in her eyes. "The Dark Lord asked for me to be inducted to the Death Eaters as punishment to my father. On the night that I was supposed to be inducted my father helped me escape. I was on the run on my own for a while until I ran into this group. They thought I was a mudblood at first but I was able to convince them of who I was and I offered to join them and help them. They aren't really bright. As I saw what happened to those who were caught I realized that I had to keep them from capturing and torturing more innocent kids."

Ron couldn't believe that Pansy's family had fallen so out of favor with You-Know-Who. She had always seemed to share his vision of blood purity. Her family's demise must have really shaken her views if she was now determined to help those of 'impure' blood.

"I give Thorn the wrong information. I tell him that they are blood traitors or half-bloods and convince them to let them go. Why do you think they haven't caught anyone for the past two months?"

It took some time for Ron to process this information. Where did this sudden turn of events leave him? Would she still want him to betray his friend's whereabouts? "So what do we do now?

"We keep doing what I have been doing. But we will also need to feed them false trails on Potter," she said wiping away her tears. Pansy was determined not to let the Dark Lord keep destroying families.

"I don't have time to stick around and help your noble cause. I have to find a way to get out of here and get back to my friends."

"I'll help you escape once they trust you if you keep my secret and help me lead these morons away from the runaway mudbloods."

"Fine, I will help you. But for your sake, Parkinson, you'd better not be lying to me. I still don't trust you. Slytherins don't tend to change allegiances like that so often. If I don't think I can trust you I will find a way to escape on my own," Ron hoped he was doing the right thing putting his trust on the Slytherin.

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Let me know what you think.

-Ale


	3. Motives and Close Calls

Sorry it took so long to have chapter 3 done. I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to happen in this chapter, but I think I finally got everything I wanted to include down. Enjoy!

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A few days later the group came to the edge of the forest overlooking a small muggle village. During the night, Thorn sent a few men to steal some supplies and the rest of the group set up the campsite.

Pansy and Ron always stayed far enough from the group so their conversations would not be heard by the others. They would plot how to help the next group of runaways they encountered so they would not seem to be letting them of on purpose. Today, however, Pansy decided to steer conversation in a different direction.

"So why did you break off with your friends, Weasley? Why weren't they with you the night we caught you?" Pansy asked as she started a fire to cook their dinner with.

"That's none of your business Parkinson."

Pansy was slightly taken aback by Ron's abruptness. "I was just trying to make some conversation. Pass time you know."

"Yeah, well that's not something that I want to share with you. I already told you I'm not going to tell you their location."

"I wasn't asking to get their whereabouts. I was just curious as to what you were doing wandering the forest all alone that night."

"Well I'm curious as to why you are here?"

"I've already told you why I'm here."

"Yeah you've told me why you came to be here. Why are you _still_ here, helping muggle-borns though?"

Pansy thought about his question for a while. She really wants to confide what she's been through with someone and Ron is willing to hear her out. Why, she is not sure since he doesn't seem to be too keen on fully trusting her yet. Maybe he wants to trust her and so he keeps questioning her motives. This thought makes Pansy relent and she decides she will tell him about her time wandering around before she came to be with these Snatchers.

After they are both done with their meal Pansy begins her story. "When I escaped from home I headed north. I was only able to grab my wand when I left so I pretty much had nothing on me. I walked for days with little to eat or drink. One night, I was being chased by a wolf or a wild dog; I don't know it was a huge beast. I came across a cliff and I slipped. As I fell I hit my head on a rock and passed out. Next thing I knew, there was an old lady treating my wounds and giving me water. Her name was Agnes. She nursed me back to health. She told me she was on the run because of her muggle-born blood status. She had been trying to help as many runaways she encountered to prevent them from being captured by Snatchers. She heard lots of horrible things happened to those captured like torture or death. I felt like I owed Agnes my life so I started to help her. My pureblood status helped me go places and gather supplies without being caught."

"Then one day while I was out," Pansy continued wiping away a few tears. "Agnes was killed by death eaters. When I returned to the shack we stayed in I saw the Dark Mark above it. I ran and soon came upon this group and I had to convince them of my blood status so they wouldn't turn me in. They didn't want to let me go so I told them I would help. I wanted to keep helping muggle-borns in memory of Agnes and being with this lot has been useful to help others."

"So that's why you're still here. To help the muggle-borns that Agnes devoted herself to help?" Ron said in a whisper, more to himself than anything. He was still trying to process all of Pansy's troubles. He found it hard to believe that the Slytherin girl would ever have _any_ problems. The girl in front of him, so broken and humbled, was nothing like the girl he knew at school. Yet her actions proved to him that she was indeed a changed person working to redeem her past wrong doings.

That last thought made Ron think about his own faults. Maybe he could also use some redemption himself. He had after all just left his friends to carry on with the ever impossible task of finding and destroying the remaining horcruxes. Not to mention all of the other things he had done while at school.

After a while of silence Pansy spoke up again, "Yes, Agnes saved my life so I want to finish her work."

"Well in a way, you kind of saved my life too. At least, you helped me from being taken to the ministry or to you-know-who. So I guess I'll help you with the muggle-borns. But I will eventually have to get back to my friends."

"Once it's safe to do so Weasley, you will. I promise."

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After their conversation over dinner, Ron and Pansy gained a little trust in each other. They were now working for the same cause. The memory of Agnes kept Pansy focused and Ron inspired on the task ahead.

The group moved through the woods again, Pansy and Ron in the lead.

"I still don't see why they always send you up ahead. Can't _they_ find anyone without your help?" Ron complained after having walked for hours.

"Actually, I volunteer to go ahead and do the searching. That way if I see anyone before they do, I can warn them and give them a chance to run," Pansy answered with a smirk at Ron's foolish question.

"Oh," was all he could offer after realizing that going ahead was indeed the best move.

The group found a small clearing and decided to set up camp there. Thorn ordered Pansy and Ron to go gather some wood and find some water.

They had finished filling up the water bottles and were moving on to find the wood when suddenly Pansy came to an abrupt stop and pointed "Look, up ahead. That looks like a fire. Weasley, you go and tell them to get away, and I'll keep Thorn and the others busy."

"Why do I have to go warn them alone? What if Thorn suspects why I'm missing?"

"I'll take the water with me and convince him I sent you to gather the wood because you're better able to carry it," she said as she ran back to the others.

Pansy made it back to Thorn's tent and starts suggesting plans to move out of the forest and on to the nearby town the next day. Just as Pansy is explaining the need of supplies Thorn catches on to the fact that Ron is not with Pansy as he is supposed to be.

"Pansy, where's the Weasley kid? He's supposed to be with you at all times!" he yelled at her.

"I left him to finish gathering the wood," Pansy said in a panic. "I'll go get him." She hoped that she had given Ron enough time to warn those people and start his way back to the camp.

Thorn hears people running off in the distance and fears they are about to lose a valuable catch.

"That's probably him running away. You three," he points at three of his men, "go after him."

"No. I'll do it! I'm in charge of him." Pansy runs off faster than the other Snatchers in hopes of reaching Ron before them. She finds him just moments before Thorn and the other men arrive.

"Weasley, did they get away?" she whispers.

"Yeah, but just barely."

"Well, well Weasley, so I see your attempt at escaping didn't work," Thorn taunts Ron as he grabs him roughly by the arm. "Come on everyone back to camp."

The group makes its way back to the campsite and Thorn is not happy with the night's events.

"Ya can't be trying to escape boy. You won't get anywhere without a wand," Thorn laughs. He turns to Pansy and says, "Pansy I would like a word with you in private."

They reach the campsite and Pansy and Thorn head to his tent.

"Would you mind explaining why the boy was off on his own?" he asks her.

"He was just supposed to be off nearby gathering wood. It's not like he can really go anywhere we can't find him again."

"He is a valuable tool to getting us in the Dark Lord's favor and you were careless to think he wouldn't try to escape," Thorn yells at her exasperated at the girl's carelessness.

"But he didn't," she squeaks, afraid to say anything else to anger the angry man.

"But he did manage to warn others about our whereabouts and let them escape. Don't think I didn't notice what the boy did. You keep a better eye on him or I will personally start doing it myself. And get him to talk. So far he hasn't given you a clue about where Potter may be hiding."

And with that Pansy was dismissed. Back in the tent she shares with Ron he was waiting to hear what Thorn had told her.

"What did Thorn tell you?"

"Just that he wants me to keep a closer eye on you and to start getting information on your friends from you."

"Oh well that's not so bad," Ron says nonchalantly.

"He knows you warned those people. He might be on to us," Pansy said still nervous about Thorn's words. Pansy was starting to panic with the thought that they might get caught. "I can't let him find out what we're really doing."

"Relax; we'll just be more careful next time."

"No, it's not that simple, I'm afraid we might have to catch whoever we run into next time. I don't want to but Thorn's starting to catch on to our plan."

By this point Pansy was ready to break down. She had not had a close call so far and this incident left her feeling scared of the consequences that may occur if she and Ron were to be caught helping people escape. Ron noticed the panicked state that Pansy was in and decided it was best to come up with a different plan in the morning when they had a good night's rest.

"Let's think about that tomorrow when we're rested. I promise you we will come up with a plan to keep fooling Thorn and the others."

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Let me know what you think.

-Ale


	4. Growing Closer

So sorry for the super long wait. I just couldn't get myself to write. I knew what I wanted to say but procrastination got the best of me. Anyway, here's the next chapter, and as always, I sadly own nothing but the plot.

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Ron did not sleep that night. He kept thinking about the events of the previous night and how close he and Pansy came to being caught helping those muggleborns escape. It still seemed surreal that he was working alongside the Slytherin girl. She was the last person he would have ever imagined he would end up working with. And they were working to save muggleborns no less.

Realizing he would not be able to go to sleep that night, Ron got up and decided to get breakfast started for him and Pansy. Their meals were small and simple but they seemed to be better than what he had while traveling with Harry and Hermione. This group had better resources mainly because they were not opposed to stealing when they wandered close to towns and villages.

Thinking about this made Ron's mind wander to his friends. He should have never deserted them. He may not have been their greatest asset, but here he ran the risk of blowing their cover and getting them caught. He missed them terribly but he had no way of going back to them. This brought him to his current dilemma. He was supposed to be able to give Pansy information on his friends but there was not much he could say. Thorn was getting anxious for anything that would help him find Harry so he could turn him in.

Ron decided that he would convince Pansy to give Thorn false clues about the whereabouts of his friends. Then it would seem like Pansy was doing her job and they would feel less pressured by Thorn.

Just then Pansy woke up and groggily headed outside to clean up. She didn't even notice that Ron was already up as she walked out of the tent. Ron was usually the last to get up so he had never seen her just out of bed. He thought she looked cute with her hair messy and still looking sleepy. He wasn't sure what made him think of Pansy as 'cute'. Perhaps it was that they had been getting along these past few weeks or maybe because they now shared a few secrets. Whatever the reason, Ron thought that she didn't look all that bad anymore. She had certainly grown out of that pug-face look she had in her earlier years at Hogwarts. But her face was not the only thing that had filled out. She was curvier and had really nice legs…

Ron stopped with that thought. He did not want to keep thinking about Pansy that way. Sure they were working together now but he was still not willing to admit that he could see her as anything other than a partner in helping muggleborns.

Pansy came back in the tent looking more awake and her hair pulled up in a ponytail. She noticed Ron was already up and had breakfast waiting. She grabbed a plate and they both ate in silence.

After they finished their meal Ron spoke up. "Pansy, I think that it would be best to give Thorn some information on where my friends could be."

"I had been thinking about that too. But I don't want to make you say anything you don't want to," Pansy said.

"We could always give him fake information," Ron said cheerfully. "If you tell him you got me talking he will believe that I really am telling the truth." He was confident that such a simple plan would be enough to fool Thorn.

"What do you suggest we tell him?"

"How about we tell him that when I was traveling with Harry and Hermione, they talked about coming here to this forest? That would ensure that we spend some more time here while they go off on a wild search and it would distract them from finding anymore runaways."

"That does seem like a good plan. I'll tell him about it now before he mobilizes the others. He'll probably send people out looking for your friends as soon as I tell him."

Pansy went over to Thorn's tent immediately. The sooner they gave him the false information the sooner they could set their plan in motion. "Thorn, I got some information out of the Weasley boy. He says that his friends were thinking of coming here to these woods."

"Are your sure he wasn't lying?" he said with a mouthful of food.

"I've got him thinking he can trust me now," she lied. "After I defended him in front of you last night, he believes that I'm going to help him escape."

"Well what do we suggest we do? This forest is big; if they are here they could be anywhere."

"Send a few groups out in search of them. I'll lead a group myself and take Weasley with me. He might be better able to spot them."

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They spent the better part of the next 5 days searching the woods. Thorn was getting really impatient but Pansy assured him that this was one possible place where they were thinking of hiding and that they may not be there yet. Everyday Thorn sent out groups of his men to search the forest. Pansy lead Ron and two other Snatchers through the woods.

That night, she was quiet as they walked further into the forest than they had the other days. She was thinking about Ron and how impossible it seemed that they would ever team up for anything yet here they were, working together to help muggleborns escape the Snatchers. He seemed different from when they were in school. He used to be the dimwitted sidekick who always followed Potter and Granger's lead. Now he took charge and was actually of some help to her.

He wasn't so bad looking either. He had really grown into his body and his red hair and freckles didn't bother her so much anymore. Pansy wasn't sure what made her change her mind about Ron but she could now consider him her friend. He understood her goals and helped her with her plans. She didn't mind that her thoughts of him had changed but she was afraid that he might not have changed his mind about her. She had showed him that she really had changed. She was no longer the selfish, spoiled brat she was in school. The recent events in her life had caused her to reevaluate her priorities. She just hoped he would see that.

Pansy was so lost in thought, she completely missed the fact that they had stumbled upon a muggleborn camp. It was too late though, the two Snatchers had spotted them too and before Pansy could think of a way to help them, the two men had caught the couple. Pansy had no choice but to instruct the two men to take the muggleborn couple to Thorn so they could turn them in to the ministry.

"Ron," Pansy hissed as they walked back to their camp, "why didn't you alert me we were getting close to those people?"

"I was walking behind you and those two. I didn't see them until it was too late!"

They walked in silence for a while before Pansy said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to blame you. I was distracted and didn't notice them either. What are we going to do now?"

"I think we're going to have to let Thorn turn them in. I don't want to but it might be the best idea. We would surely be caught helping them escape so that plan is out. And if we do turn them in, Thorn might be appeased for a while. That way he doesn't get suspicious of you for not helping him catch anyone. It has been a while since they have caught anyone."

"As much as I wish it wouldn't have to be this way, you're right. We just have to let Thorn turn them in," Pansy said with sadness.

They had caught an elderly couple. The woman reminded her so much of Agnes that turning her in to the Ministry broke Pansy's heart. She felt as though she were turning Agnes herself in.

When they arrived back at their camp, the couple was turned into Thorn. He was really happy with the capture. He congratulated Pansy and her group and he and some men went on to take the couple to the Ministry.

When they returned, Thorn announced that the Ministry had been generous with their reward and they would spend the night celebrating. Pansy didn't feel like celebrating though so she went back to her tent.

Ron joined in on the festivities for a while. It was best if the Snatchers thought that he really was happy to be catching muggleborns. After a while of watching the rowdy men drink and laugh he had enough and went to his tent. There he found a crying Pansy.

"Hey, Pansy what's wrong?"

"I can't…" sniff, "believe we let those...those beasts…" sniff, "turn that old couple in," she said between sobs.

"You know we had to. Things have been getting pretty hard for us," he said taking a seat next to her on her bed. "It was them or us."

"I know," she sniffled. "I just wish we didn't have to. The old lady reminded me so much of Agnes."

Pansy started crying again. Ron wasn't sure what he could do to comfort her so he just pulled her into a hug. They remained this way until she stopped crying and fell asleep in his arms. He didn't dare move her. They had been through a lot that day and the least he could do for her was to let her sleep. He lay back on the bed careful not to move her too much and held her as she slept. He had grown to care for this girl whose heart was finally in the right place. Now he could definitely say that she was his friend.


	5. Escape

Important note at the end.

I don't own any characters…sadly.

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The next morning Ron awoke before Pansy to find that she was hugging him tightly and there was no way he was going to get out of her grip without waking her up. He laid there looking at her sleep so peacefully. He had to admit that she was really growing on him. She was definitely not what he expected. She fought hard for what she cared about and to his surprise, what she cared about most right now was exactly what he was fighting for too.

He could not hide his attraction to her anymore though. She had grown up to be a pretty girl. He couldn't help notice her large dark eyes, her long black hair and her petite figure. Maybe her change in attitude is what made her beauty shine, he wasn't sure. All he was sure of at the moment was that he really liked her.

All of these thoughts conflicted in his mind though. For the longest time he had thought that the only girl he would ever think of that way was Hermione. He had spent the longest time longing for her but now he was sure he didn't have those feelings for her anymore. Another girl had come in and managed to steal his heart.

Pansy stirred in her sleep and Ron managed to disentangle himself from her grip. He got up and went to start up some breakfast. He decided he would let her sleep a while longer. They both had an exhausting day yesterday and she had really broken down after having to turn in the muggleborn couple.

Sometime later Pansy woke up and noticed that Ron had cooked breakfast. His cooking had really improved in the weeks that he had been traveling with the Snatchers.

"Breakfast's ready" he told her after she had gone and washed up.

"Ron thanks for everything," she said and gave him a genuine smile.

Ron was startled momentarily. This was one of the rare times she used his first name.

"It was just breakfast" he shrugged and served himself a second helping.

"Not just that, for what you did last night too. For listening to me and comforting me. I didn't think turning that couple in would affect me that much."

He considered her words and the cautious tone she used. She really had come a long way.  
"Don't worry about it, Pansy" he said and gave her a smile.

They camped in that forest for a few days because Thorn and the other Snatchers were recuperating from their drunken celebration where they spent most of their earnings. Pansy and Ron decided it was time to plan an escape and took advantage of the low presence of the Snatchers to look around the forest and devise a plan.

One morning Pansy suggested they sneak into the nearby town and gather supplies they would need to set off on their own.

They would need their own tent because they could hardly hope to manage to escape with one of the group's tents undetected. They would also need food, cooking utensils, and other such things.

As they made their way around an outdoor market, Pansy stopped at a jewelry stand. Ron noticed that she was looking at a pair of emerald green earrings.

The woman tending the stand saw the pair of teenagers and said to Ron, "It looks like your girlfriend likes them. They cost 5 sickles. How about you get her a nice Christmas gift?"

Pansy heard the woman and was about to correct her, "Oh, he's n..." but Ron cut her off.

"I'll take them," he said and made the purchase.

Soon after they finished their purchases for the day and headed back to camp. Pansy had been thinking about the earlier incident over and over and decided to confront Ron.

Before they entered their tent she asked, "Why?"

He stopped in his tracks and faced her. "Why what?" he asked bewildered.

"Why didn't you let me correct the lady at the jewelry stand? When she called me your girlfriend you didn't let me correct her."

"I thought that we could use that as our cover."

"Really, is that the only reason?"

"Pansy, I just..."

He took a step closer and they were just inches away. She looked up to him and he could feel her warm breath. It would be easy for him just to bend down to capture her lips. But at that moment Thorn came up to them and yelled at them to pack up and the moment was broken.

* * *

The group moved to a different campsite. This time they camped on a mountain side close to a river. This mountain range had plenty of fallen snow and the weather had turned cold. The Snatchers liked to remain in their tents with only one guard by the fire.

This provided the perfect situation for Ron and Pansy's escape. Three days after arriving at the mountain side, they were ready to escape. They would leave after dinner when the Snatchers switched guards. Before dinner Ron and Pansy spent their time packing all of the supplies they had gathered.

The two teens had spent the last three days in awkward silence. Neither knew what to say after their near kiss. They each feared the reaction of the other so they came to an unspoken agreement to not say anything at all. This, however, created some really awkwardness that they both wished would disappear. For now they decided to focus on their escape plan and that kept them distracted enough.

"Here's your wand back Ron. I couldn't give it to you before because Thorn might have noticed. Now that we're leaving though…" Pansy said handing Ron his wand.

As he took it his eyes met Pansy's. He wanted to say something to her about the other day but now was not the time.

After dinner, Pansy went for a walk around to keep a look out on the guard. As soon as the guard sat by the fire, they had the coast clear. Pansy went into the tent to get her stuff and get moving.

"The guard's distracted, let's go," she whispered urgently as she grabbed her backpack.

Ron grabbed his own pack and they both headed out of the tent. They had to walk out of the boundaries of the magical wards Thorn put around the campsite. They had to go out as far as the river that was downhill to the campsite.

Ron and Pansy were quietly making their way down to the river when they heard the screams of a few Snatchers. They had been spotted.

The teens ran dodging stunning curses as they went. They did not much further to go when Pansy lost her footing on the uneven rocky path and fell. Ron ran back to help her and managed to get to the riverbank. They were about to Disapparate when Thorn showed up.

"Where do you think you two are going?" He asked with a vengeful tone.

"We're no longer going to help you Thorn," Pansy shouted.

"You haven't been helping for quite some time Pansy," Thorn said. "You were never going to get Weasley talking, were you?"

Pansy winced at the sudden pain in her ankle. "No," she whispered, "I had no intentions to use Ron to get to Potter."

Thorn growled in anger and lifted his wand. But just as he was about to launch his curse at Pansy, Ron grabbed her arm and Disapparated them both away.

* * *

So sorry about the wait but I had lots to think about in regards to the future of this story and the others I had planned in this series. I had originally planned to write this story and Detention to the point where both Ron/Pansy and Ginny/Draco were ready to meet up with Harry/Hermione and then merge the stories into the Harry/Hermione story.

But over time I have grown really attached to this story and most of my inspiration is for this story. So now I think that I am going to catch you all up with what is going on with Harry/Hermione and merge them into here. Then I will eventually bring in Ginny and Draco. What do you guys think? Should I continue with the original plan or just merge it all into Snatched?

-Ale


	6. Moving Forward

Here's the next chapter. Some of the quotes are taken directly from Deathly Hallows Part 1, yet I own nothing…sadly.

* * *

Ron and Pansy apparated to a snowy forest after leaving the mountain side and the Snatchers behind. Not knowing where else to go, Ron just disapparated them to the first place he could think of. He wasn't sure where this forest was anyway. He was still not too good at disapparating so he worried that he may have splinched himself or Pansy.

"Are you ok?" he asked her even before he had time to check if he was okay.

"Just a sprained ankle, I think," she replied out of breath. She was still frightened with Thorn's anger and feared that the Snatchers would come looking for them.

"Let me set up the tent and put a few wards up before I help you wrap it up."

Ron worked quickly and silently to set up their new camp site. The tent they managed to procure while gathering supplies was smaller than the one they shared before. The only bright side to that being that it was easier to set up without Pansy's help.

Once the tent was up and the spells in place, Ron helped Pansy inside. There was quite a bit of snow outside so Ron decided to gather some up to make Pansy a makeshift ice pack for her ankle. He wrapped it up for her and gave her the ice to help numb the pain. He really hoped it wasn't broken.

"Thanks for helping me Ron," she said as they sat together eating some fruit for dinner. They would have to go looking for food soon as their supply was small and consisted mainly of fruits and vegetables. Ron would need something else soon, she thought.

"No problem," he said with a grin. "We can't have you with a sprained ankle if we plan to keep moving."

"Not just my ankle though, thanks for thinking quickly and disapparating us away from Thorn. I just froze as soon as I saw him standing there pointing his wand at us. I don't even want to imagine what spell he was going to throw at us before we left."

Ron could see that Pansy was still quite shaken up with the past couple of hour's events. "You should rest now. Maybe the ankle will feel better tomorrow." He helped her to her bed before heading to his own.

Pansy tried to go to sleep but she had too much on her mind. What were they going to do now? When they were with the Snatchers, they had a clear mission to save muggleborns. Now that they were on their own, would they just focus on running and evading capture? Ron would be wanted by Death Eaters for his association with Potter.

"Ron?" Pansy whispered hoping he was still awake.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"What's our next move? We had our escape all planned out but we never talked about what we would do after we left."

"I wanted to talk to you about that before but we never really had the chance. I think we should look for Harry and Hermione."

Pansy thought this over and it seemed logical that he would want to go looking for his friends. But what would happen with her? Would they just receive her with open arms? She highly doubted that. She voiced this concern to Ron and it was his turn to think things over.

Finally after some time he said, "They will have to accept you into our group. You saved me and have helped me so much. That's got to count for something. Besides, they would never turn away someone in need. I bet they would even help Malfoy if he ever helped someone they care for. I will put in a good word for you."

"I hope you're right. I've kind of grown attached to you," she confessed. "I would hate to have to leave." She smiled and Ron could see the sparkle in her eyes faintly through the candle light as she said this.

"I've kind of grown attached to you too," he said, "Let's figure this out tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure, good night Ron," she yawned.

"Good night Pansy." He blew the candle out and turned to sleep. He truly had grown very fond of her and wished his friends would let him keep her.

* * *

_Meanwhile with Harry and Hermione…(Harry's POV)_

The days after Ron left passed by in gloom. Hermione and I formed an unspoken agreement not to speak of him as his parting still hurt the both of us. I kept hoping that I would wake up in the morning and see that he was still here. I kept wishing that our argument was only in my imagination despite the fact that his words about my parents still hurt me deeply.

Hermione and I devoted the days to try to determine the location of Gryffindor's sword or any of the remaining horcruxes. However, at night we would both be preoccupied with other matters. I spent many nights looking over the Marauder's Map and looking out for Ginny's name to make sure she was still safely in the castle. Hermione spent her nights crying herself to sleep most likely still hurt over Ron's departure.

To break the silence that seemed to be ever present, we began to talk to Phineas Nigellus' portrait to try to gain more information on the situation at Hogwarts. We were able to gather that Ginny and a few other students were causing mischief, most likely trying to reform the DA as I noticed she seemed to be disappearing into the room of requirement a lot. Due to this, the old decree on gatherings of more than three students was now reinstated. I hoped that these stricter rules would not affect the students too much but knowing Snape, this did not bode well for anyone.

It was a few weeks after living in this routine that I began to feel the need to break the monotony of living this way. Having to wear the locket really added to our grief so I decided that a few hours without it on would do Hermione and me some good. I went over to Hermione and took the locket and put it somewhere safe. She gave me a weird look as I set it down and took my wand and turned on the old wireless that Ron had left behind. I turned it on and then asked Hermione to dance. This helped cheer her up as we were able to distract ourselves from all of the troubles going on. Seeing her eyes light made me decide to try whatever it takes to cheer her up. I decided that we would spend a few hours each day without the locket. We would use this time to talk about good memories or just listen to the wireless. This gave us the strength to pull out of the desperation we were feeling and so we spent the next few days in a much better mood. It also helped that we were able to find some decent food. It was then that I decided that for us to move forward with our search we must go to Godric's Hollow.

One night as I was thinking of how to bring up going to Godric's Hollow to Hermione, she asked me about an odd mark she found in The Tales of Beedle the Bard book. I remembered that was the same mark Luna's dad wearing on a necklace. I told her how Krum told me that it was Grindelwald's mark. I had to convince her to go to Godric's Hollow. I had a feeling that's what our next step should be.

"Hermione, I think we should go to Godric's Hollow," I said ready to explain my reasoning and fight to convince her but she surprised me by readily agreeing.

"Yes, I think that's what our next step should be. It makes sense that Godric's Hollow is where the sword would be. I mean that is where Godric Gryffindor used to live," she said.

* * *

Our trip to Godric's Hollow turned out to be a trap. Bathilda Bagshot turned out to be luring us into a trap set by Voldemort. Hermione managed to get us out of Godric's Hollow before Voldemort could get to us. When I awoke I found that she was outside reading.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked.

"You've really out done yourself Hermione," I told her as I looked around to where she had apparated us to.

"The Forest of Dean," she explained. "Came here with my mum and dad, years ago. It's just how I remember it." She said looking around, "The trees, the river. Everything. Like nothing's changed. Not true of course, everything's changed. If I brought my parents back here now they probably wouldn't recognize any of it. Not the trees or the river, not even me. Maybe we should just stay here Harry. Grow old."

* * *

I have finally made progress in merging other characters into this story. It looks like both couples are in the same forest but it will still be a while before they meet up. We still have to see how the Harry/Hermione story develops. Sorry for the POV change, I had the H/Hr part written in that POV already and when I tried to change it I felt that the tone I was trying to capture changed. So I just left it like that but the rest of the story will strictly be in third person.


	7. Happy Thoughts

Harry/Hermione POV

Hermione's words echoed in Harry's mind for the rest of the day. He had blown up on her because of his broken wand but while he was put side all alone, he gave serious thought to what she said.

_"Maybe we should just stay here Harry. Grow old."_

She had been the most constant presence in his life ever since they became friends. While Ron had deserted him time and again, Hermione was always there for him. Even in third year when he had been angry at her for turning his Firebolt in, she was present.

Maybe he should take her word, growing old with her didn't seem like such a bad idea. But was that really what she wanted? She was in love with Ron, right?

* * *

Hermione went back into the tent after Harry found out about his broken wand. She understood his anger. She would be angry if she found out her wand was broken too. What saddened her most was that she had upset him. His broken wand was _her_ fault after all.

This thought made her uneasy. She was not used to Harry being so upset with her. Usually when there were problems in the group it was with Ron...

That was the first time in a while that she allowed herself to think of his name. Her anger had finally subsided enough for her to realize that things between them would never amount to anything else. They butted heads too much for them to ever really be happy.

Having Harry be angry at her made her feel very uncomfortable. They almost never fought, and when they disagreed, it was never this bad. She didn't want him upset at her; she was too used to his pleasant company.

This led her to her next thoughts. Harry was the only one she could truly grow old together with. They got along perfectly and knew each other better than anyone else. She thought back to her words to him earlier, _"Maybe we should just stay here Harry. Grow old."_ Would he even want to? And if so, in what context? As friends, or more? Perhaps the better question was, what did _she_ want?

Hermione was about to go out to talk to him and try to fix things when she heard him come into the tent. She got up from her place at the edge of her bed and was about to start explaining when Harry came up to her and kissed her full on the lips.

* * *

Ron/Pansy POV

The next morning Pansy was the first to wake up. The pain in her ankle was now only a dull reminder that it was there. She carefully got up and tried to get breakfast started while trying not to aggravate her ankle any further.

She had woken up extremely happy. Last night's conversation with Ron played back in her head and made her smile. He had said he didn't want to let her go. Maybe he was starting to feel what she felt for him. She liked him that much she was sure of. She had grown to like him in the past weeks they had spent together getting to know each other. Their time with the Snatchers had certainly given them enough time to do that.

He didn't talk much about his friends but she understood why he would not. He was on an important mission with them and he was not to reveal what they were up to. He did, however, talk about himself, even if it was at her insistance. He told her about his favorite foods, hobbies, his family life, and even his extreme devotion to the Chuddley Cannons. She shared things with him too and she felt that they had finally moved on from the petty school prejudices they had towards each other.

Last night though, he had said he didn't want to leave her, and that made her very happy.

Ron woke up much later seeing as Pansy, in her great mood, decided to let him sleep in. Something for which Ron was very thankful for. After having some lunch, Ron looked over the supplies they had gathered and found the old wireless they had gotten back at the market where they bought their supplies. It was old, but Ron hoped it would still work and they'd be able to tune into some news about the war.

While Ron fiddled with the wireless, Pansy decided to clean herself up and dress nicely. She wanted to wear the earrings Ron had gotten her. If Ron really did like her maybe they could…

Her thoughts drifted off. She wasn't sure where any of her efforts would lead. Sure she liked him, and she hoped he liked her. But what if he still liked Granger. That thought scared her the most.

After she was nice and dressed, Pansy approached Ron and saw that he had made some progress with the wireless. He had tuned into a very scratchy sounding broadcast that seemed to be giving out news. This reminded her of something she should tell Ron.

"Ron, I just remembered. Before you came to us, I mean, the Snatchers, Thorn would sit at his wireless and try to tune in to a broadcast giving news about the war but from the Order's perspective."

"Really?" he asked sounding very interested.

"You didn't know about it?"

"No. How do you tune in?"

"I think you need a password. Thorn would sit there and start muttering words to the wireless. I'm not even sure how he knew about the broadcast. I only ever heard him get to it once. The password that time turned out to be phoenix."

"It seems the password is Order related," he said excitedly. "We should try to tune in. See what's going on."

They both sat there muttering possible passwords at the wireless. It seemed impossible that they would get to it this way but Ron was insistent they try. After over an hour of trying unsuccessfully, they decided to stop for the day. They settled on a news broadcast clearly done by the Ministry of Magic but after it was over, a song by the Weird Sisters came on.

"I love this song!" Pansy got up excitedly, her ankle reminding her of its injured state.

"Hey careful there," Ron helped her balance herself. The way he held her by the waist made Pansy's heart flutter.

"Sorry," she said shyly. "I just really like this song. Would you dance with me?"

Ron looked dumbfounded by her request. "I don't dance."

"Of course you do, everyone can dance," she said taking his hand.

"I'm just…I'm really bad at it."

"Here," she said grabbing his other hand, "I'll teach you."

They danced around for a while, Pansy in the lead. Eventually Ron got the hang of Pansy's simple movements and he got braver with his own. As the song came to an end, Ron spun Pansy and she lost her footing but he managed to catch her. Their lips were so close and riding his wave of bravery, Ron bent lower until they met. It took but a moment for Pansy to react and kiss him back.

* * *

AN :O kisses all around! ;) Anyway, now that this story is coming along nicely I thought I'd give you all a rough timeline of when all of these events are happening. The trio went on the run at the beginning of August. Ron leaves the trio, I want to say sometime early in October. Harry and Hermione go to Godric's Hollow December 24th. Now it's around December 26th and Ron is supposed to meet back up with H/Hr…but for the sake of this story, I'm going to extend this just a wee bit. This will make things flow better. Well I hope that's not too confusing, but if it is just let me know.

P.S sorry for all of the line breaks!


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